What it's about: When they see a bloodied young woman run out into the road, odd couple detective duo Hap and Leonard stop to help her without hesitation. But no good deed goes unpunished, and soon all three of them are running for their lives.

Series alert: The Elephant of Surprise is the 14th entry in Joe Lansdale's series of novels about white, working class conscientious objector Hap Collins and black, gay, heat-packing Vietnam veteran Leonard Pine.

Featuring: Nikki Griffin, a bookstore owner and part-time private investigator who isn't afraid to confront the violent men who have mistreated her female clients.

What goes wrong: Nikki agrees to take a well-paying and seemingly straightforward corporate espionage case, only to find out that the target is a woman who needs protection. Luckily, Nikki has experience with dangerous men.

Read it for: the exploration of serious issues like domestic violence, income inequality, and addiction; Nikki's complex relationship with her violent impulses.

What it's about: Meghan Gerard is a star high school athlete who begins to develop odd symptoms of an illness her doctors can't diagnose, and despite her seemingly adoring parents and their considerable financial resources of, her condition only gets worse.

Is it for you? This medical thriller features a deteriorating marriage, toxic family dynamics, difficult characters, and frank discussions of childhood trauma.

Did you know? Munchausen syndrome is a disorder in which a person or their caregiver fabricates or inflicts symptoms of an illness for attention and sympathy (not a spoiler!).

Author alert: Though better known as a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright or an Oscar-nominated screenwriter (take your pick), this is not David Mamet's first novel -- just his first in nearly 20 years.

What it's about: Set in 1920s Chicago and featuring a whole crew of unsavory gangsters, the novel stars former WWI pilot Mike Hodge, who's now a reporter. When his girlfriend is gunned down in his own home, he's immediately on the hunt for those responsible.

Featuring: Alex Chin, a star high school athlete; Samantha Dixon, his fellow student and science tutor who has an irrepressible curious streak.

What happens: Alex goes to the hospital after a football injury, where tests reveal he's something other than human. He goes on the run with Samantha, and together they discover his origins, government secrets, and a massive threat to the future of humanity.

The premise: When Rose Franklin was a little girl, she stumbled across a massive metal artifact near her South Dakota town. Now an adult, she's working with a team of fellow scientists to figure out what it is, how it got there, and what the markings on it mean. And the clock is ticking.